FIREFIGHTERS scrambled a helicopter to rescue people trapped by
flames in southern Greece yesterday, one of dozens of fires that have
torn through villages and forests, leaving a blackened landscape in
their wake.

The worst wildfires in memory have killed 63 people in Greece,
destroying everything in their path. One fire broke out on the fringe of
Athens but was quickly brought under control. Another scorched the
woodland around the birthplace of the Olympics.

The flames were driven back from the capital and Ancient Olympia,
but a helicopter headed to the village of Frixa in the western
Peloponnese to rescue people surrounded by fire.

A woman found dead on Friday with her arms around the bodies of
four children had fled her home - the only house left standing in the
village, said a neighbour in the Peloponnese town of Artemi-da. The
home's white walls and red roof were unscathed; it was surrounded
by blackened earth.

New blazes broke out faster than others could be brought under
control.

"The whole village is burning. It's been burning for
three days," one woman sobbed, clutching her 20-month-old daughter
as they sheltered in a church with others near Figalia.

Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting
terrorism and organised crime, ordered an investigation to determine
"whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on
forests" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law, the
Public Order Ministry said.

Arson is often suspected, mostly to clear land for development. No
construction is allowed in Greece in designated forests and fires could
be set to circumvent law by disputing the status of the area.

"So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of
the country cannot be a coincidence," Prime Minister Costas
Karamanlis said in a televised address. "The state will do
everything it can to find those responsible and punish them."

Several people have been arrested on suspicion of arson, although
some were accused of starting fires through negligence rather than
intent. But one man was charged with arson and homicide in connection
with a fire near the town of Areopolis on Friday that killed six people.

The fires hit during the August holidays when villages across
Greece are filled with people from Athens and other large cities
returning to their ancestral areas. The Feast of the Assumption on
August 15 is one of Greece's main holidays.

Desperate residents appealed through television stations for help
from a firefighting service already stretched to the limit and anger
mounted, with many blaming authorities for leaving them defenceless.
Scores of people were treated for burns and breathing problems as the
government declared a state of emergency.

The front of one fire on Sunday reached Ancient Olympia in southern
Greece, burning trees and shrubs just a few yards away.

Although the forest around was burned, none of the 2,800-year-old
ruins were damaged.

Dozens of charred bodies have been found across fields, homes, and
along roads and in cars.

The remains of a mother hugging her four children were found near
the town of Zaharo in the western Peloponnese, as they tried to escape.
A neighbour said that their house was unscathed.

The government appealed for help from abroad, and 17 countries were
sending planes, helicopters and firefighters.

Weekend wildfires also killed two elderly people in neighbouring
Bulgaria.

Arson is often suspected, mostly to clear land

CAPTION(S):

Fires burn on the Hill of Kronos, next to the site of Ancient
Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, in south western Greece
Picture: PETROS GIANNAKOURIS

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